diff --git a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
index bdf37d0da2..f06f97a8ee 100644
--- a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
@@ -493,6 +493,9 @@ KERNEL_SRC_PATH = "/usr/src/kernel"
 STAGING_KERNEL_DIR = "${TMPDIR}/work-shared/${MACHINE}/kernel-source"
 STAGING_KERNEL_BUILDDIR = "${TMPDIR}/work-shared/${MACHINE}/kernel-build-artifacts"
 
+# Globally define base string for kernel packages
+KERNEL_PACKAGE_NAME ??= "kernel"
+
 ##################################################################
 # Specific image creation and rootfs population info.
 ##################################################################